Wandering Princes
by Ismeme
Summary: Lucy has never lost a key. Ever. But one day, when in need of help, Loke's seems to disappear. Now Lucy's panicking, and it's up to Team Natsu to find him before it's too late. One-shot, LoLu.


A/N: Alright, my second Fairy Tail one shot. I hope you like it, and reviews would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

"Move, you stupid son of a-" Lucy struggled to finish her sentence. No matter how hard she fought, no matter how hard she pushed and shoved and tackled, she just couldn't get anywhere. She was caught. There was no choice now. It was time she summon a spirit, or face the consequences of it later.

Holding out Virgo's key, she attempted to summon the pink haired maid. But instead of a masochistic spirit popping out, a little white dog bounced out.

"Plue?" He looked up at her, struggling to say who knows what.

"Where's Virgo?" Lucy whined. As expected, the dog said nothing.

"Well, I guess there isn't much you can do to help." She forced him back into the spirit world, once again shuffling through her keys in order to find the right one. Geez. How hard was it to find someone that could move a sofa?

None that would be particularly useful stuck out, and she was about to give up when it hit her. Loke. He was easily strong enough to lift a sofa, and no doubt he'd be glad to help. She smiled, berating herself for not thinking it up earlier. Picking the ring back up, she began once again shuffling through them.

Wait a second. She went through them again. No, that couldn't be right. She went through them again. Wait, no . . . she almost dropped the keys in her panic. Loke's key wasn't here.

But how could that be? She always took special care to make sure her keys were well taken care of. How could she just _lose _one? No, she wouldn't panic. She would stay calm and search for the key. It had to be lying around hear somewhere. She got down to the floor and began crawling, desperate to find her friend's link to the real world.

It took her an hour before she realized it wasn't in the house.

* * *

"Why you little-" They were at it again. Natsu and Gray butted heads, ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Gray as usual was in little more than boxers and Natsu was on fire. Literally. Mirajane sighed and scrubbed down the bar's counter. Looks like things were back to normal.

Normal, that is, until Lucy came crashing through the doors.

Everyone turned to stare at her, surprised at the sudden outburst. Not skipping a beat, she raced over to where Natsu and Gray were fighting, and prying them apart, pulled Natsu up so he looked her dead in the eye.

"_Where is it?_" Man, and they thought Erza could be scary. He panicked, feeling the grip of death beginning to strangle him, and in his panic blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"In the cupboards!" Lucy jumped up and sprinted for the bar. Mirajane just barely ducked as she slid over the counter and ripped open the doors. But instead of the key she had so badly been hoping for, in her hands were none other than . . .

"Firecrackers?"

"Ya. They taste like pop rocks." Natsu took one and lit it, before shoving it into his mouth. He smiled as the fireworks lit ablaze in his mouth. Lucy was surprised his head didn't explode. It was probably the lack of brain making more room for food.

Lucy didn't even give the scene a second look. Hoping back around the counter she began interrogating every Mage that was unlucky enough to cross her path. No one had a clue as to what she was talking about, and it wasn't until she looked ready to pull out the whip that someone finally stopped her.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Mirajane looked at her fellow guild member with concerned eyes. Lucy collapsed into a chair, exhausted from all the pointless panicking.

"It's horrible, Mirajane." Her forehead rested on her forearms. What was she going to do?

"What happened?" Mirajane took a seat beside her, a comforting hand placed on her back.

"I lost Loke's key." Even Mirajane couldn't help but be shocked. Lucy was always so careful with her keys, it was silly to think that she lost one.

"How?"

"I wish I knew." Lucy pulled her head back up and gave a puppy dog look. Mirajane got up to get her a drink while the rest of her team took a seat at the table.

"Ay, Lucy, what happened?" Natsu was still munching on the firecrackers.

"I lost Loke's key."

"Aw, Luce, that's terrible!" He sounded sincerely upset, which was hard when your mouth was full of explosives.

"What are you planning on doing about it?" Gray asked.

"I don't know. I've never lost a key before, not even once." She chugged down the drink Mirajane brought her, panic slowly returning.

"Well, I guess we have no choice then." Erza stood up and placed her hands firmly on her hips. The team flinched. This couldn't be good.

"We have to find Loke's key." It wasn't as bad as it could be, but it still got them nowhere.

"But how are we going to do that? It will take forever to just search for it." Gray remarked. Erza just gave a confident smile.

"If I can make Juvia wear a cocktail dress then I think I can find a key." From the back of the room, Juvia shivered. That day still haunted her nightmares.

"But what do we do? He could be dead by now!" Lucy felt panic surge back into her body.

"I thought celestial spirits were immortal?"

"Oh ya." Her panic died down just a little.

"The obvious plan here is retrace our steps. Maybe you just dropped it somewhere on our last mission." Erza suggested.

"I guess that works." Lucy had no reason to argue. Gray and Natsu nodded, a sign that they had also decided to come. Erza turned to her staring guildmates.

"Until we return, you are to scan this place for Loke's key. First one to find it gets a Get Out of Trouble pass from me." The last part was enough motivation to get the Mages moving.

"Alright. Train station first?" Natsu frowned at the prospect, but agreed anyways. Lucy gave a sad nod, and Gray seemed indifferent. It was settled then. They were going to find Loke.

But first, cake time.

* * *

"Open, Gate of the Lion!"

Loke took his cue and jumped out of the spirit world, ready to take on any task his holder had set out for him. He wore his usual flirtatious smirk, and began with his usual greeting.

"Do not fear, my princess, for your prince has-" He stopped dead in his tracks. He may be a prince, but what he was looking at was most definitely _not_ his princess.

She was literally the polar opposite of Lucy. For a start, her body was curveless and boyish, and the outfit she wore looked like she had gotten it out of the dumpster. Her hair was a pitch black that was cut short and spiked in every direction, and to top it all off she had enough rings in her body that she probably had more holes than Spongebob.

She gave a wicked grin, pointing to the group of men behind her.

"Get rid of them." He voice was shrill and subconsciously Loke found himself backing away.

"Who are you? Where's Lucy?" No, this wasn't good. What she doing with Lucy's key?

"That doesn't matter now. You're my spirit, and you'll do as I say." Loke pursued his lips. Not only had she not answered his question, but she was bossing him around, something he didn't take lightly. But most importantly, he wanted to know what happened to Lucy.

"Where's Lucy?" His voiced was more firm this time.

The girl stopped to think about this. She could lie and say she killed her, but then he might try and do something against her. And she couldn't just say she found it, because then he might try and go back to her. She was stuck, so she fibbed it.

"Maybe I'll tell you, but first you have to do me a favor." She once again pointed to the group of men behind her. Sadly, Loke was just as stubborn as she was.

"You have no right to order me around. Anyways, we haven't even made a contract yet." He only added the last part to try and stall her.

"Fine, but let's make this quick. What days are you available?" The group of men seemed to snap out of their daze and were quickly gaining on them.

"April Fools." Her smirked at her grimace.

"That's not an answer. What days are you available?" She repeated.

"February 30th."

"That's not a day."

"April Fools!" She rubbed her eyes, frustration slowing creeping up on her. This was much more difficult than she thought it would be. But she wouldn't give up that easily. An idea hit her.

"You know, I can see why 'Lucy' never called you. I mean, you don't seem to be of much use." This seemed to have the intended affect.

"Hey! I'm useful!"

"Really? Doesn't seem like it to me. I mean, if you were really were useful, you would have been there to save her." This seemed to catch his attention.

"What do you mean, 'save her'?" He grabbed her arm, now desperate to know.

"Maybe I'll tell you, but first, get rid of them." At this point this men were on them, and in one flick of his wrist, Loke sent them flying back.

"What happened to Lucy?" He repeated in a tone that made even the girl shrink.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, I mean, it's not like you'll ever see her again. But now, about our contract."

Loke ground his teeth. He had some frustrating owners in his time, but never quite like this. But something was off. She kept skirting around the part about Lucy, meaning that it was really bad or she didn't know. Instead of responding, he though this over for a moment. Lucy had a lot of keys at her disposel, not to include if things got really bad she had Erza, Gray and Natsu to back her up. And there was no way they'd let someone on their own team die. That had to be why she was avoiding the subject. But what to do about it?

"I'm only making a contract unless you tell me exactly where Lucy is." He finally responded.

"You're to hooked on that. Now start this contract, or I will." A sadistic grin grew onto her face.

Once again, they were at a stronghold. Loke knew he was never going to get anywhere with this girl, but he wouldn't give up that easily. He struggled to come up with an idea that would help him. He thought about Lucy, and how he handled these situations with her. Then it hit him. He knew how to get what he wanted.

"Alright, you win. I'll make a contract." She smirked and he pretended to look beat. They began forming the faulty contract, the girl looking more pleased with herself by the second. Loke waited patiently, waiting for the perfect time to put his plan into action.

She really had no clue what she had gotten herself into.

* * *

"He's not here!" Lucy whined. In her arms Plue was suffocating as she hugged him tighter. Hopefully they found him soon, because the poor little dog couldn't take much more of this.

"Don't worry, he's got to be around here somewhere." Natsu lifted up a rock and called Loke's name.

They had been searching for this missing key for hours now, searching everywhere from the train station to the place where they had battled the bandits. But it was nowhere to be found. Lucy's panicking was only quelled by the occasional whack to the head be Erza. The sun was beginning to dip over the horizon, meaning that the fruitless day was coming to a close.

"Guys, I hate to say it, but I think it's time we wrap things up." Gray remarked, and everyone but Lucy agreed.

"No! We can't! We have to find the key! You can go, I'm not leaving until I find it." Plue let out a little whimper. Just his luck.

"Come on, Luce. We can search some more tomorrow, I promise." Natsu said. Lucy almost surrendered to the puppy dog look he was giving her.

"No. I mean, we haven't tried everything, have we? I mean, I could . . ." She trailed off. What could she do? Subconsciously, her fingers played with the keys at her side, and she got an idea. It may not work, but it was worth a shot.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" Unlike the first time she had tried, the maid actually came out this time.

"You called, my princess?"

"Virgo! Wait a second, why weren't you there when I called you earlier?"

"My apologies, miss. You see, Taurus got his ax stuck in a very unfortunate place, and it was up to me to get him out. Plue was kind enough to substitute for me in my place. I am prepared for my punishment." She gave a little bow, and a wicked smile grew on Natsu's face at her last remark. This earned him a hit to the head by Erza.

Lucy paused for a minute. His ax? Where could he have got his ax stuck? Then it hit her. When she said ax, did she mean . . .? She shook her head. That wasn't the point.

"Okay. But I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, my princess."

"You can stop calling me that. Anyways, I lost Loke's key, and I was wondering if you knew where it was at." It felt embarrassing to ask a spirit help on finding a key, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe you summoned him earlier today."

"What?" No, that wasn't right. She hadn't summoned Loke at all today. Which means that someone else has his key.

"Virgo, do you have any idea where it was that Loke was summoned?" Erza butted in.

"No, I'm afraid I do not, miss. But I think this will no longer be an issue." Everyone flashed her a look.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Because it appears that he's here right now." Everyone flipped around and examined there surroundings. They didn't see any sign of Loke.

"I don't see him." Natsu commented. Virgo pointed to a figure in the distance. It appeared to be some punked out boy with massive amounts of rings, and dragging behind him was none other than Loke. Everyone rushed towards the figure.

"Hey, what are you-" Before Lucy could even finish the figure dropped the spirit in front of her.

"That's it, you win, I can't take it anymore! He's all yours!" He- or rather, on closer inspection, she – threw her hands up before tossing the key at Lucy. She caught it, and stared, unable to believe her eyes. It was back. She found Loke's key. Or rather, it found her.

"Wait a second, why are you returning it?" Erza asked suspiciously.

"I can't take it! He's a freaking – just a little -" She was so frustrated she couldn't even finish.

"Aw, you don't love me anymore?" Loke teased. She looked like a shocked cat and dashed for the station's doors. He stood up and smiled, glad to be back with his friends. Lucy looked absolutely ecstatic, and he held out his arms for the hug he knew was coming. But instead of hugging him, she squeezed the key and began dancing around with it.

"Yes! I found it! I found it! I found-"

"Lucy?" Loke questioned. He flashed the team a look, to which they just shrugged.

"Yes! It's here! I got it-"

"Lucy?" This seemed to snap her out of her excitement, and for a moment, they stared at each other. For a moment, she a sincere smile crept up onto her face, and Loke returned it.

And then, just because things never work out they way they want it, Lucy passed out.

"Son of a-" Erza facepalmed. Why did this always happen?

Loke caught her and picked her up bridal style. She was still clutching the key, and her face still wore the same happy grin. It wasn't exactly the reunion Loke was hoping for, but it sufficed.

"So, how about we pick up some food? I'm starving." Natsu finally cut in after a moment of silence. No one disagreed, especially not the sleeping celestial Mage, and they all took off.

It was good to be back.

* * *

Lucy plopped down on the sofa, ready for this day to just end.

The sun had already set, they had returned to the guild when only the heavy drinkers still stuck around. Lucy was absolutely exhausted from today, and Loke had retreated back to the celestial world a few hours ago. Instead of sticking around with her team she made a bee line for home, not even bothering to slip into her pajamas before she crawled into bed. Or rather, crawled onto the sofa, since it was blocking the way to her room. She curled up and waited for sweet sleep to take her away.

"Long day, huh?" A familiar voice pulled her from her revere.

"Loke? What are you doing here?" She sat up and he made his way across the room, finally taking a seat beside her.

"Just thought I'd visit my favorite celestial Mage." She hit his arm at his attempt at flirting, but for once, he sounded sincere.

"Come on, I know that's not what you came here for. What do you want?"

"Actually, I was being honest. I just wanted to visit." She pursued her lips, but couldn't find anything shady in what he said.

"Okay, fine. You can stay, as long you don't try and pull anything." He chuckled at her uneaseness.

"Aw, you don't trust me?" He used the same teasing tone he had on the odd punk girl from the train station. That reminded her. She still had yet to ask about that.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Who was that girl from the station?" His smile seemed to fade a little.

"She was the one who took my key. She must have found it lying around somewhere, and tried to make a contract with me." Lucy blushed a deep red. So it was true. She had dropped his key, and had she been any more incompetent may have lost one of her best spirits.

"Oh. Wait, did you?" Panic came back to her. He wouldn't make a contract behind her back . . . would he?

"Oh, no, of course not. She tried, but sadly she had no clue what she was up against." Lucy remembered the way she had practically dragged him to the station.

"What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing. I just showed her what I was capable of." Lucy gave him a horrified look, obviously jumping to the wrong conclusion.

"Oh, not like that! I mean, I just annoyed her until she agreed to give me back." This seemed to give her little relief. But the shame was still there.

"I'm sorry I lost your key." She said in a low voice. He cracked a playful smile, but inside, he did feel a bad for her.

"Ah, no hard feelings. Even the greatest wizards make mistakes sometimes, right?" She blushed at his compliment.

"Thanks. But I promise, that won't happen again. I'll be sure of it." The same determined expression returned to her face, and he knew the real Lucy was back.

"I'm glad." He gave a flirtatious smile, to which she reprimanded with a hit to the arm. Just like old times.

"Well, I'm tired. You should probably returned to the celestial world." She pulled out a pillow and blanket, ready to hit the hay.

"Actually, I think I like it here. Much nicer than the other witches place. I think I might just stay awhile." She gave him a peeved look. But, to her surprise, he returned it with an earnest smile. Reaching out, he pulled her down until her head and pillow rested in his lap. She considered arguing with him, but decided to let it go. Anyways, she kind of owed him, with the whole losing his key and all.

"Good night." He said, pulling the blanket over her.

"Good night." She responded tiredly, before falling into the abyss of sleep.


End file.
